Gaza flotilla attack: US to investigate death of citizen

The United States has said it will probe the death of a Turkish-American killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Furkan DoganPhoto: AP

11:00PM BST 03 Jun 2010

Furkan Dogan, a 19-year-old born in Troy, New York, moved to Turkey when he was four. He was one of the nine activists killed during the Israeli raid.

"We will look into the circumstances of the death of an American citizen, as we would do anywhere in the world at all times," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

Mr Crowley said the Federal Bureau of Investigation might become involved if the US government launched a more formal inquiry.

"Anytime an American is killed overseas, we have the option of evaluating the circumstances and if we think a crime has been committed, then, working with the host government, we have the option of our own investigation," he said.

"We are evaluating the facts as we can best ascertain them and, based on that evaluation of the information that's available, we have a variety of options that are available to us," Crowley said.

The Turkish government confirmed that eight Turks and a US national of Turkish origin were shot dead in the raid before dawn Monday on Gaza-bound aid ships.

A statement by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office released the identities of the nine victims, all men aged between 19 and 61, the youngest of whom was the Turk with US citizenship.

The bodies were handed over to families after post-mortem examinations in Istanbul, the statement said.

Mr Crowley said US consular officials visited an Israeli morgue to view the bodies of those killed in the raid, but he was not aware that US officials had seen Mr Dogan once he had been identified as a dual US-Turkish national.